Losing Weight the Vedic Way

Weight gain and obesity are ballooning out of control around the world. With obesity on the rise in all age groups and the accompanying chronic illnesses of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer and osteoarthritis 1 (WHO) and depression due to low self esteem, people are spending billions of dollars on obesity and related disease. In the US alone 12% of the national health care budget is spent treating obesity. 2(CNNMONEY) Yet the number of overweight people continues to rise. According to the World Health Organization, worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980.

In 2008, 1.5 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese.

65% of the world's population live in countries where overweight and obesity kills more people than underweight.

Nearly 43 million children under the age of five were overweight in 2010.

Obesity is preventable

What causes obesity?
In the past, ancient scientists from the Vedic Tradition approached problems of weight gain and desire to overeat with spiritual solutions based on thousands of years of research and development. These simple techniques are still available and encourage a shift in perception of how we see the world, which can in turn help change our mental set-up in regards to both body image and eating habits. A sound, strong and fit body is a natural by-product of the new alignment of our being.
We don’t even know how to recognize real hunger anymore! According to Vedic medical science, when you are really hungry, the signal comes from your throat, not from your stomach, as you imagine. The vishuddhi chakra, the subtle energy center which is the reservoir of our energy, is located in the throat. The throat is also the seat of the thyroid gland, which plays an important role in balancing and correcting our weight.
What overweight people may be doing wrong
The reason we keep craving for food is because when we are actually eating, we never really appreciate or enjoy the food. Most of the time, we are not even aware that we are eating! One way to become more aware and enjoy the food while eating is to chew it well, slowly and with awareness. If you do not enjoy chewing food in the mouth, you will enjoy digesting it in the stomach. You will always want the stomach to be full...so you start overeating. If you enjoy chewing the food in the mouth you will not be overweight. A good way to ensure chewing in the mouth is the age old method of chewing each bite 32 times.
Depression and obesity
Depression and obesity have a direct connection! When you are feeling empty inside, you try to fill the inner emptiness with food. There is no end to this kind of overeating, because no matter how much you eat, you will still feel empty and unfulfilled.
Some tips for losing weight the Vedic Way

Do not put food in the body unless you feel hunger and thirst in the throat.

Look within when you think you are hungry. Is the signal coming from the stomach or the throat? If you are feeling hunger or thirst from the throat, the body is asking for energy because the energy center is in the throat. If the feeling is coming from the stomach, the stomach wants junk food.

When you decide to put food into your mouth, chew it well, with awareness, 32 times.

Simple meditation technique for obesity
Try this simple meditation technique. Sit in a comfortable position and close your eyes. Visualize the blazing sun in your throat. The sun awakens your natural energy. While visualizing this, tell your thyroid to be alive! Be active! Be balanced! Your body has enough intelligence to heal itself! If you tell your thyroid to balance itself, your body will spontaneously go to the right weight.
Continue this meditation for 21 minutes.